Submarine-style airship prepares for first flight

The Aeroscraft, a futuristic cargo airship, lifts off inside a Tustin blimp hangar during a test. The test demonstrated the ship's ability to expand and compress helium inside its cavity, changing its buoyancy and allowing it to lift off and to land.COURTESY WORLDWIDE AEROS CORP.

Worldwide Aeros will host a public viewing of the Aeroscraft from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday (Feb. 1) through Monday (Feb.4). Admittance will be limited to those given advance notice that they can attend. Contact Raymundo Cruz at raymundo.cruz@aeroscraft.com for confirmation and directions. For more information, call 323-201-8375.

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A futuristic airship took its first tentative steps toward flight this month, floating up to 40 feet in the air inside one of the hulking blimp hangars in Tustin.

Many more tests are planned before the Aeroscraft – an ungainly zeppelin that mimics a submarine – can leave the hangar for its maiden flight, perhaps as soon as March.

But the initial trials show that Aeroscraft's unique buoyancy system is functioning.

"We were able to prove that this Technology works," said Sadia Ashraf, spokeswoman for the ship's maker, Worldwide Aeros Corp. of Montebello.

Worldwide Aeros is building the airship in a 17-story-tall, World War II-era blimp hangar at the former Tustin Marine Corps Air Station. The craft is a prototype for a fleet of airships that someday may ferry cargo around the globe more cheaply than cargo jets.

The craft's buoyancy system uses helium to lift the ship into the air, then uses air as ballast to land the way a submarine uses water to dive.

The buoyancy system also makes it possible for the ship to take off and land vertically, like a helicopter, so the Aeroscraft can go where planes and other airships can't go, such as battlefields and disaster zones.

Worldwide Aeros crews completed construction of the airship in December, then launched a series of tests to make sure that various on-board systems work and operate in conjunction with each other.

The crew completed its "first float" maneuvers three weeks ago. Earlier, the vehicle completed its first movement and ground-handling test to demonstrate the ship's maneuverability.

Engineers and technicians also are putting in 16-hour days testing the ship's 365 horsepower engines, automatic flight control systems, Electronics and fuel systems.

Crews also demonstrated the ability of four oblong landing pads – essentially the ship's feet – to hover above the ground and to anchor the craft. The pads use blowers to create lift when hovering or suction to anchor the ship to the ground.

Tests are about 85 percent complete, said Varoujan Sarkissian, head of the company's electrical department.

The Aeroscraft project is funded in part by $35 million in Pentagon and NASA contracts. The project is part of a wider effort to develop the next generation of airships for military and private use.

The airship being built in Tustin is 254 feet long and 97 feet wide. Unlike the traditional blimp, which gets its shape from the gas that fills it, the Aeroscraft has a skeleton made from strong, but ultralight, aluminum and carbon fiber materials.

It has three propellers – one on each side and one aft – to help stabilize the craft and power it forward up to 140 mph.

The finished model will have a hard, Fiberglas exterior and will be twice as long as the prototype. Aeroscraft will have the capacity to carry 66 tons of cargo – roughly three times that of C-130 cargo planes and almost as much as the top payload of a C-17.

But at this point, the Aeroscraft appears pieced-together, with cables snaking along its patched, fabric exterior, and machinery still protruding from the hull.

The goal is to fly the airship by spring.

"Each subsystem has demonstrations, tests and evaluations," Sarkissian said. "Then, the major challenge for these engineers is to have all these subsystems come together."

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The Aeroscraft, a futuristic cargo airship, lifts off inside a Tustin blimp hangar during a test. The test demonstrated the ship's ability to expand and compress helium inside its cavity, changing its buoyancy and allowing it to lift off and to land. COURTESY WORLDWIDE AEROS CORP.
Bradley Hasemeyer, the host of AOL's Translogic show, uses his smartphone to photograph the Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, outside a World War II-era hangar in Tustin on Thursday JAE C. HONG, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Electric engineer Varoujan Sarkissian, left, and aerospace engineer Munir Jojo-Verge chat in the cockpit of the Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin on Thursday. JAE C. HONG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A computer monitor in the cockpit displays onboard control systems for the Aeroscraft. Construction recently was completed on the prototype for what could become a fleet of cargo zeppelins being developed for military and civilian use. JEFF COLLINS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Aerospace engineer Munir Jojo-Verge works in the cockpit of the Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin. JAE C. HONG, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Leonel Cruz pulls down the flap on the Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin. JAE C. HONG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, is seen in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin. JAE C. HONG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, is seen in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin. JAE C. HONG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Aeroscraft prototype, under development at the Tustin blimp hangars, has three propellers to help guide the futuristic zeppelin. The engines also are used to compress helium into giant bags, pulling heavier air on board when the airship needs to land. JEFF COLLINS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, is seen in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin. JAE C. HONG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sadia Ashraf, spokeswoman for Worldwide Aeros Corp., holds a truss made from strong but ultralight aluminum and carbon fiber materials used to build the Aeroscraft's rigid skeleton. JEFF COLLINS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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